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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  February 23, 2013 11:00am-1:30pm PST

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school today to work on these problems, to help cure these diseases, i really hope that the work that we're doing here today can just be an institution. >> like the nobel prize? it's a thinging? people talk about the break through prize, somebody got awarded it, that's a big deal. >> this prize isn't really about the people winning it today. it's about the college and grad students are in the lab trying to figure out what they should be researching. it's about younger kids who are still trying to figure out what they want to be when this he grow up. >> so you've got ann and sergei from google, art levenson from apple, chairman of apple. you've got uri milner on this group that have has financed a lot of companies you might think of as competitors. this is sort of the face of the new technology. you're not all people who normally work together in business. you're kind of competitors. >> yeah, i think all these companies work together more than people think. but the big thing here is that you know, science and technology
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are very closely related. and when you're building these information technology companies, the market rewards you and you can make a lot of money. a lot of folks who are doing such extraordinary work in science don't have the same opportunity, and because of that, i think it would be a shame if a lot of folks were growing up trying to figure out what they want do don't choose to go into such critical work because of that. if by having these prizes we can give incentive and can kind of make some of these folks a little more well-known as figures that some younger students want to grow up to be like, then we're doing our job here. >> thank you for joining the conversation this week on "your money." we're here every saturday at 1:00 p.m. and sunday at 3:00 p.m. and weekdays at 3:30. find me on facebook at facebook.com/ali velshi. tweet me @ali velshi. tweet me @ali velshi. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com
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hello. it's 2:00 p.m. on the east coast, 11:00 a.m. out west. for those of you just tuning in, thanks for joining us. i'm fredricka whitfield. the top stories we're following for you right now, the vatican is sapphiring back against media reports on sex, money and gay priests calling them unverified or completely false would if italian publications claim pope benedict decided to resign the same day he received an explosive report on a gay lobby lurking in the vatican. cnn's senior international correspondent ben wedeman is in rome. >> they are blasting in uncharacteristically strong terms, fredricka, are these reports, reports that appeared in a daily newspaper, "la repubblica" and a week live magazine panorama which suggests that indeed this group of three cardinals who were assigned by pope benedict to look into
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wrongdoing in the vatican found or allegedly uncovered, according to these publications a network of gay priests within the vatican who were being blackmailed according to these reports by a network of male prostitutes in rome. now, the vatican is roundly denying that these reports taking place, accusing the italian media of trying to influence the conclave, that group of 116 cardinals who will be meeting in the next few weeks in rome or rather in the vatican city to elect the next pope. fredricka in. >> in general, are people taking this report seriously throughout rome, or is there some reticence to embrace it? >> well, that depends who you speak to. now, some of the so-called veteran vatican watchers are somewhat skeptical about these
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reports. but many other people are taking them seriously. they've been picked up not only by these two publications but really they're appearing in all the italian media. we've had in the past just three years ago, there were reports that were backed up by video and still pictures of rather gay priests within the vatican, and so there is a historical precedence to that. so many people in fact, do take these reports very seriously. despite the vigorous denials from the vatican. >> ben wedeman in rome. one of the men who help elect the next pope is cardinal roger mahoney in this country. he is giving a deposition today about alleged sex crimes by priests when he was archbishop of los angeles. miguel marquez is in l.a. mahoney has been deposed in the past. what's different this time?
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>> well, the big difference is this is the first time he's been deposed since he's no longer cardinal, left in 2011. plus, there were 12,000 pages of documents released by the dioceses here under court order about past his involvement with priests who were charged with being pedophiles in the past. they are about two or three hours into that deposition, we believe. and they are going to talk to him about one particular father, father nicolas aguilar rivera accused of having 26 victims that he was he abused. but they're also able to talk to him about 25 other priests. all of this against the backdrop of him going to rome to cast his vote in the conclave in the coming days. one person, bill donahue with the catholic league, you would expect he might say that it would be all right for mahoney to go over to rome and it's his
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own business. that's not exactly what he told cnn. >> the answer is, he should stay in los angeles, mahoney. for him to go to rome is only going to create all kinds of clouds hanging over the whole catholic church. i would hope he would exercise more prudence. >> now, this afternoon, the location where we're at is where cardinal mahoney actually lives, and there will be several members of the snap network, the network of survivors of abuse of the catholic church that will be here to deliver a petition, what they say has 8,000 names on it. asking the cardinal to recuse himself from going to rome. fred? >> so any idea as to whether he would actually consider that or do that? >> it doesn't seem very likely. he tweeted last night that he was only a few short hours from his trip to rome where he will be tweeting from there his spokesperson said that it is under cannon cal law that he has to go to rome but other
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catholics i've talked to and other people in the church say he can recuse himself. it is possible that once he gets there, the other cardinals in the conclave could basically disinvite him. >> all right. miguel marquez, thanks so much from los angeles. of meantime still in l.a., the coroner there is ordering a toxicology report for a canadian tourist whose body was found in a hotel water tank. the body of 21-year-old alisa lamb was found in the tank at the cecil can hotel after she was reported missing in january. her body was discovered when hotel guests complained about discolored water and water with a funny taste. police say lamb's body may have been in that tank for weeks. the cause of her death still unknown and officials don't know if it was an accident or murder. of lance armstrong and the u.s. postal service cycling team received tens of millions of dollars in federal funds. now the u.s. government wants it back. the justice department says it
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will join the lawsuit filed by former teammate floyd landis. that suit alleges armstrong and managers defrauded the government by using performance enhancing substances in violation of sponsorship rules. and now, a new winter storm in the northeast. once again up to 10 inches of snow possible for parts of new england this weekend. boston still has remnants of that big blizzard that hit just two weeks ago, if you recall. and even after the streets were cleared, the city was left with a whole lot of potholes to fill. karen mcginnis back in the weather center, here we go again. >> the third weekend in a row but not like what we saw early part of february, fred, when they got blasted with about 24 inches of snow. this one going to pack a little bit of a punch. the computer models were all over the place. yes, snow on the way not just for boston but boston has seen 32 inches of snow so far of this month. not for the season.
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we've seen it for this month. all right. i believe we are taking a look at a live picture of boston. cloudy skies. the snow, rain will start later on tonight. i think it will be all snow by the early morning hours, then it looks like it's going to switch back a little bit. you've got some grungy looking 24 to 36 hours ahead. but here's the reason why. area of low pressure moving off for new england on the backside of this, that's where we'll look at the heavy wet snow. talk about snow, i-reporter, we have amanda, she said, oh, we all thought it was an earthquake, but no, it was the ice and the snow falling off her office building in wichita. wichita saw 14 inches of snowfall. some areas of kansas saw 22 inches of snow. amanda, love the video. whoa. i don't know if i would have done that, fred. that looks a little scary to me. >> it looks like she had a little distance between those chunks falling and the camera.
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so. >> not a lot of wiggle room for me. >> seems like she stayed safe. but that is a fascinating thing to see. that's a whole lot of snow and ice for sure. thanks so much. appreciate it. in a minute, we'll go to south africa for the latest on oscar pistorius and tell you what his first full day out on bhals been like. and that woman's body found in that water tank in the l.a. hotel, it's not the first time something horrible and mysterious happened there. we'll take you inside what's being dubbed the horror hotel. the one thing that 99 percent of investors can expect to find in their portfolio, is unexpected risk. bny mellon has the vision and experience to help. we look at the full picture... to uncover risk, find opportunities, and create a plan that's best suited for you.
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with xerox, you're ready for real business. we now know the identity of another victim of that deadly shoot and car crash on the las vegas strip. komo reports sandra sutton was the passenger in that taxi that burst noose flames after a maserati crashed into it. the crash also killed the taxi driver. someone in a black range rover opened fire early thursday killing the driver of the maserati. and he has since been identified as speiering is wrapper kenneth cherry. police are hunting for the occupants of the range rover. let's get the latest on oscar pistorius. he is now due back in court june 4th. but this weekend, the olympic hero is staying at his uncle's house in pretoria after being released on $112 through bail accuse affidavit murdering his
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girlfriend revalts steenkamp. correspondent nic robertson is living in joe nan hessburg, south africa. the reaction from steenkamp's family that he would be out on bail? >> well, as you can imagine, that's a family going through a lot of pain. her forespoke out in one of the newspapers here saying that if pistorious has lied to get bail and if he is going to continue to lie, then this is something he's going to have to live with. this will be on his conscience forever. he clearly not happy about the situation right now. but he did say that if, if oscar pistorius is telling the truth, he said that maybe one day he can forgive him for his daughter's death. a family spokesman said all they really want is justice to be done. >> interesting. >> not sure what to feel in the case. they just want to know the truth, and whatever happens is not going to bring reeva back. they just want justice and the
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truth. >> it's not just the family, reval steenkamp's family upset about pistorious getting bail. a number of people in the country feel upset by it, too. people are divided over it. >> it's very clear then at least from that article that the steenkamp family isn't so sold on pistorious' story whereas initially, they said, you know, the relationship has been so great between them and pistorious that they couldn't imagine that there was any intent. so they've changed their mind on this? >> they've had a chance to hear what everyone else in the country has heard now, four days of the defense and prosecution, and the affidavit from pistorious and perhaps they really feel now that it just doesn't quite add up for them. we heard from the magistrate in the court saying it didn't add up for him. the big question on so many people's minds and it must be on
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the steenkamps' mind, if pistorious loved her so much, why didn't he sort of realize she wasn't in the bed when he went to the bathroom with the gun? why didn't he try to wake her before the incident happened? so i think it's as the information's coming out, they're saying there are possible flaws in it here. >> okay. now, there's a new lead detective in this case because the other lead detective had legal problems of his own. give me an idea of what the consensus is how the investigation will move forward with a new leader. >> you know, i think the consensus is that the new inspector who's been put on is the job is a lieutenant general, a high ranking officer, 32 years in the police force, a lot of experience, well respected, that he will sort of bring this investigation back on track. a big investigative team will be put on it. they're not saying how many or how long it will last. certainly the defense is going to exploit the holes that have been created by hilton bota, h
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the investigator officer taken off because he's accused of attempted murder. so the defense could still come out ahead because of this, but the investigation itself, i think most people think that's probably back on track. but it's not the first time the police's reputation here has looked bad when the trials come -- when it's all come to court. the evidence has been presented. they're not going to hold their breath till they see exactly how the police do. i think some confidence restored. >> it is a fascinating case that is has gripped the world for that matter. all right. thanks so much. nic robertson there in johannesburg. let's talk movies straight ahead. it is oscar weekend. "argo" the thriller about the 1979 iran hostage crisis, that's the top contender in tomorrow night's oscars. and jimmy carter was president at the time of the crisis. and he takes issues with a few
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of the historical inaccuracies in his view. he sets the record straight with cnn's piers morgan. plus grae drake gives us her oscar picks and all the latest hollywood buzz. my mother made the best toffee in the world. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. then you're going to love this. right now they're only $14.95! wow-a grt deal just got a whole lot better. hurry. $14.95 won't last.
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well, no one can understand you. ♪ tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation from... easy -- breezy -- beautiful -- easy -- breezy -- beautiful covergirl. that's what i'm talking about. see? what did you just say? i'm looking for some... [speaks gibberish] i know you can't wait hollywood's biggest night is tomorrow. and the movie "argo" is a frontrunner for oscar gold about a daring rescue during the iranian hostage crisis in 1979. president jimmy carter was in the white house at the time. he told piers morgan what he thought about the film's accuracy. >> you've seen "argo" i take it. >> yeah, i have. >> how accurate is it from your
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memory? >> well, let me say first of all, it's a great drama. i hope it gets the academy award for best film because i think it deserves it. the only thing that i would say it was was that 90% of the contributions to the ideas and the con suemation of the plan was canadian. and the movie gives almost full credit to the american cia. with that exception, the movie's very good. >> well, he gives it two thumbs up. let's find out what gray declaration to say about this. good to see you of rotten toe pay the toes.com. >> it's been too long. >> i know. so good to see you back. >> yes. okay. good big oscar weekend. and, of course, "argo" is winning so many predictions as to whether it's going to take home best movie. let's take a look at "argo" for those who maybe haven't seen it. >> aliens and robots?
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>> yes, sir. >> are you telling me that there is a movie company in hollywood right now that is is funded by the cia? >> yes, sir. >> there are only bad options. it's about finding the best one. >> you don't have a better bad idea than this? >> this is the best bad idea we have, sir. by far. >> fake movie making in order to get into tehran and help free those hostages. so, grae, this movie really has gotten a lot of attention for a lot of reasons. sometimes for the snub of affleck and then sometimes just for i guess you know, the veracity of the movie. >> right. and when ben affleck did not receive a best director nomination, that made "argo" the underdog. with all of the changes to academy voting this year, i think they are going to vote "argo" best picture. that is a really rare thing that a film will win best picture when the director wasn't nominated. that's only happened three times, but i think that "argo"
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is going to do it and we should congratulate ben affleck for growing such an amazing head of hair and give him an oscar. >> you think it's because of -- it's sort of payback for him? >> yes. i think that it is basically a like we're saying the academy will be saying, we're sorry but also, world, hollywood likes to show that them, too, cannot just entertain people but they can also help when the hchips are down. sometimes an organization greats as the cia needs flair from hollywood. >> he acted, directed in "argo." he's not up for best actor but others are. what are your brie predictions for who might walk away with best actor? >> pretty much a lock for daniel day-lewis because his interpretation of "lincoln." we've been saying for months is really spectacular. he brought something so amazing to that role. and he has won every award under the sun. >> golden globes.
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>> yes, exactly. and the other reason that "lincoln" -- daniel day-lewis will win for "lincoln." if you're unsure about a category, you can bet "lincoln" will get a few more awards because most of the academy award voters were alive when lincoln was president. so -- >> you're so funny. witty. how about best actress? >> who is your picking. >> a really tough category this year because jessica chastain and "zero dark thirty" was magnificent and jennifer lawrence in silver linin"silver playbook" was every bit of good. .silver linings has more of everybody's emotion behind it. bipolar ballroom dancers attracted people this year. plus she holds her own in that movie. >> doesn't she slap deny anywhere row? >> she slaps somebody. >> she slaps somebody, girl. she is crazy in that movie. not literally but figuratively.
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i thought she was great. i think she has the slight advantage. the other thing that "zero dark thirty" has against it was all the controversy about waterboarding and terrorism that it brought about. so jennifer lawrence, let's award ballroom dancers the award this year. >> she got the golden globes. what is about best supporting actor and actress? >> best supporting actor is a category where all of the nominees have already won. so i have to admit that i'm bored by this category because if guys already have statues, it's anybody's game. tommy lee jones as thaddeus stevens for "lincoln" was so spectacular that i think ultimately, he has the edge. but there's a wildcard in this, which is that robert de niro for "silver linings playbook" just cried on katie couric's talk show because the role touched him so much. >> it also underscored he can do anything.
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stek play any character and you believe him. >> yes. absolutely. he can be in any kind of movie. he goes from a meet the faulkers movieing to "heat" all the way to the "silver linings playbook" and always fantastic. it's been a long time since he's won. there is a chance he's just hot on tommy lee jones' heels. >> supporting actress? >> supporting actress i'm going to say is a lock again. anne hathaway because she nails that song, and i think really when this whole award season started she dreamed a dream that sometime she would have time to take a nap. that girl has been busy. >> she's a workaholic. >> her role is very short in the movie. but that moment when she sings that kind of cements a real distinction you know, for her. >> absolutely. it just captivated the world. you were right. you were right. because that's the thing about this critic or not. anne hathaway touched
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everybody's soul in that role. she nailed the song. she really captured us, and in best supporting actress roles, a lot of those actors and actresses aren't on screen a whole lot because they're supporting, right? soapy say let's just give her the award, viva the french revolution and who are ray for prostitutes on screen. >> oh, my. grae drarks thanks so much. can't wait to find out how your picks fared. big old oscar night. >> fingers crossed. >> grae drake of rotten tomatos.com. you can always check in to her reviews by checking out that website. all right. danica patrick, she's outpacing the boys in nascar. we'll look at how her race to pole position has kind of i guess brought new popularity to her and to the sport. and the first lady like we've never seen her before as she let loose on the dance floor. sort of kind of on late night television. this is $100,000.
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same day the pope reeve received a bombshell, a 300-page vatican report documenting homosexuality in the priesthood. a vatican spokesman calls the report gossip designed to influence the vote for a new pope. a cardinal who will be part of that the vote is tied up in a messy legal deposition in los angeles today. cardinal roger mahoney is answering questions about pedophile priests in the los angeles dioceses during the time as archbishop. church documents suggest mahoney knew priests were abusing children but went out of his way to shield the men from prosecution. now a look at some of the stories trending right now. microsoft says it has been hacked. its investigators found malicious software in some computers. the techniques used were similar to those used to hack into computers at facebook and am. a homeless man in kansas city is being rewarded handsomely for a good deed. a woman dropped her diamond engagement ring into his
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donation cup by mistake. but when billy ray harris returned two days later, she was so grateful she set up an online fund for him and in about a week, $95,000 in donations have flooded in. and first lady michelle obama has come up with a few new movies. right there. she's been grooving with tv host jimmy fallon dressed as a mom. they got on the floor there. grooving. showing a little sprinkler action during what's called the evolution of mom dancing. a little shake it up, too. okay. wave to the crowd. all right. let's talk racetrack. danica patrick hoping to make nascar history again. last week she became the first woman to qualify for the front spot at daytona 500 getting what's called the pole position. tomorrow she'll try to become the first woman in history to
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win the big race. joe carter has more on the woman everybody will be watching on the track. >> i think there's an opinion that i'm probably hard or tough or too serious maybe, but i can tell you i'm probably like the opposite of that at home. number one, i'm very girly. i like to go shopping. i like to go get pedicures. i like to wear high heels and dresses. i'm definitely a lot softer than i am at the racetrack where i'm doing my job. >> reporter: love as it turns out has no caution flags. in november, she announced the end of her seven-year marriage but just weeks ago, it was revealed she had a new love, fellow rookie driver ricky sten house junior and her happiness couldn't be more parent. >> we're enjoying it and i think that we both kind of laugh a lot when we get asked about each other. i think that's a good thing. >> i'm not going gog crash somebody because they crashed her. i'm going to go out there and drive hard every week. >> being in the spotlight is nothing new for danica. she's garnered worldwide fame
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for her provocative photo shoots and record 128 super bowl appearances. danica is among nascar's top earners and biggest stars. but over the years, she's been a lightning rod for critics who point to her failure so far to win a race or accuse her of focusing more on self-promotion. but for racing, she brings a tremendous amount of exposure and popularity to a sport that could use attendance and tv ratings boosts. >> it's really created significant added interest from a fan base standpoint. >> patrick struggled in this spotlight last year, her first racing with nascar after seven seasons with indy car. just two lapse into her debut at the daytona 500, she crashed and finished 38. now after making history as the first women to win pole position for this year's race, it's clear her years of working to make it to the front row are paying off on the biggest stage.
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>> i have a lot to learn, too. i understand that. i've got jeff gordon starting next to me and i've got, oh, my god, a herd of them behind me. hopefully at the end we're rolling and we have a chance. >> when you talk about star power, you talk about popularity, i've got a cute story. jimmie johnson, carl edwards and jeff gordon, big nameses in nascar, all three guys have daughters. all three of their daughters said dad, the one person that we want to meet this week is danica patrick. jeff gordon brought his daughter ella who is 5 years old to victory lane after she won the pole position on sunday. they snapped a picture together. we've seen firsthand going over to her garage this week the amount of young people, the amount of young girls that have lined up to sign danica well wishes on her window and her crew chief saying yesterday he's passed out more lug nuts to little girls than he has in his entire career. they've been signing them and giving them away. her impact on nascar goes all
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the way down to the littlest fan you can seige in that is so sweet. those big nascar stars, their daughters, does that mean they're also rooting for danica and not rooting for their dads? >> i think so. i think so. >> all right. we'll all be watching. thanks so much, joe carter there front and center at daytona. also watching someone else who made history before. danica. there was jaept, the first woman to compete at the daytona 500 talks about blazing a trail in the boys club of racing and paving the way for danica patrick. ♪ [ male announcer ] it was designed to escape the ordinary. it feels like it can escape gravity. ♪ the 2013 c-class coupe. ♪ starting at $37,800.
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danica patrick will make history tomorrow as the first woman ever to start at the front of the pack in the daytona 500. patrick says she loves the fact that she's breaking gender barriers. >> one of the coolest things is to be able to think that parents
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and their kids are having that conversation at home about it. and to -- i've heard stories about a kid, boy or girl, saying, but mommy, daddy, that's a girl that's out there racing. and then they can have that conversation to say, you can do anything you want to do, and gender doesn't matter. your passion is what matters. and that's cool. >> but decades before danica, there was janet guthrie, the first woman to race in the daytona 500 and the indianapolis 500. i asked janet how she felt about danica breaking her record. >> well, it was a 36-year-old record. it was about time it was broken. she has excellent equipment, and in qualifying last weekend, she made the most of it. the proof of the pudding, of course, will be on sunday. >> do you feel like you paved the way for her? >> oh, when i first put a car in the field at indianapolis for the 500 mile race there and also
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at the day tony nap 500, when i put a car in the field for indianapolis, it was on the front page of the newspapers, not the sports page, the newspapers. in los angeles, detroit, chicago, and so on and so forth. and that is the kind of effect that danica will vin if she wins the race. >> wow. it seems like, you know, danica really has the respect of a lot of other drivers and fans. and she will still tell you it's been a tough road going. but you, you know, were heckled. some would say that you might even -- you were harassed. what kind of adversity overall did you face and how did that i guess either spur you along you know, really keep you on track and want to drive even faster? >> well, back then, the guys who drove at the top levels had never had the experience of running against a woman. and they were sure they weren't going to like it.
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and they weren't shy about making their opinions known. and you know, mostly i could laugh at it. sometimes it made me mad. but what really mattered was what happened on the racetrack. as long as i could get my hands on that equipment, i could put everything else out of my mind. and that's what danica will be doing also. >> you even wrote in today's "washington post" that this moment for danica this weekend at daytona does transcend motorsports in your view. you also said that "for 36 years till last sunday, i had been the best female qualifier in a cup race with ninth place starts at talladega and bristol in my rookie season." but describe, if you will, kind of the butterflies, anxieties, excitement that you felt when you got behind the wheel and if you feel that what you experienced is much of what danica will feel tomorrow when she gets behind the wheel. >> well, tal gaig a gag and bristol were two different
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tracks. of course, talledega much more like daytona. the drafting was tremendously important. so when i started that race in ninth place at talledega ahead of richard petty i might point out, i was mostly concerned about what effect the draft was going to have. as it turned out, another car's drive shaft came through my windshield in the first turn. so i really never got a chance to find out. >> wow. she is amazing. and very courageous. guthrie says patrick has a zing advantage in money. we'll bring that part of the conversation with janet tomorrow 2:00 eastern time. coming up next, dr. sanjay gupta explains why is these people are running around in their underwear in cities all around the country. no kidding. we'll be right back. ♪
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in some major cities all over the country, you may have recently seen a lot of people running around in their underwear. dr. sanjay gupta explains in this week's "human factor". >> what would spell thousands of people to run a mile in their underwear in winter. >> they are racing money to help this man and many others like
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him who suffer from nf. it causes noncancer russ tumors to grow in the body. drew grew up in the suburbs of atlanta. when he was 16 he was diagnosed with this rare disease. >> by senior of high school, the pain was a daily experience for me. >> by the time he was 23, the tumors were so bad he says he was no longer able to walk. little was known about the illness or how to treat it. drew's struggle inspired his brother chad to do something drastic. he gave up a successful graphics company and joined the children's tumor foundation to raise money and awareness for nf. >> to see a life that you see so promising being stripped away, you know, the only thing to do is to reach out and do your best to try to find a solution. educate other people about it. >> four years ago, the cupid's undie run was conceived. the first event held in d.c. raised approximately $10,000. now the event has gone international and race officials
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say more than $1.3 million will be raised this year. at 25, drew is benefiting from his brother's efforts after being bedridden for years he's in a trial that uses a cancer drug to shrink the tumors. he has less pain, out of bed, drives a car and plans to go back to school next fall. >> the fact we have an option to stem the tide of that suffering in any way makes it the most important thing i could do with my life. >> and drew gives a lot of credit to his brother and friends working to help him and others suffering from nf. >> through all of this, you know, he's just been a stalwart. he's been so strong. he's had such faith. it has been because of the community that's been around him. >> dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting. >> and remember this fauxs hug? that one right there between bill clinton and barack obama. what's stopping the republicans from doing the same? coming up, we'll examine what's behind a new civil war within the gop.
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it's not democrats versus republicans. it's the new civil war within the gop. there were competing state of the union responses from marco rubio and rand paul, the republican, the tea party responses and now karl roving is targeting some tea party candidates. john avlon is cnn contributor and senior political columnist for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." good to see you. matt kibby is president of the group freedomworks which supports tea party candidates. good to see you. both coming to us from washington. gentlemen, civil wars are often long bloody fights leaving both sides in the end. is that the path the gop is on? why is the gop allowing this fight to be so nasty and public? >> i think the republican party has always contained a lot of
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competing conservative tribes. this factional fight is coming to the front forefront because of the disastrous election, the amount of money fueling these different factions and a deep philosophical division between more center right folks and social conservatives. there's fundamental contradictions that need to get worked out. >> so matt, can there possibly be a winner out of this kind of fight, the republicans versus the tea party movement? >> i think the american people are going to win. i'm not sure this is just a fight in the republican party. i think it's a broader paradigm shift. i think you have people all over the country becoming more informed, have better access to information, are able to organize out of the duopoly party structure. that's the fight now between the insiders like karl rove and all of these grassroots citizens that feel like they're the ones that should decide who the candidate is that runs in a general election. but i don't think it's just a republican thing. we believe in competition.
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and competition and having a healthy argument about the future of the republican or the democratic party, i think it's a good idea right now. >> in fact, you brought up, matt, karl rove. let's talk about what's taking place. the kind of fighting involving him, his legacy, his name, karl rove, you know, he's got a new super pac targeting gop primary candidates who can't win general elections. there are many within the tea party and conservative republicans who say this makes them very angry. it's hard to believe even newt gingrich is being one who's critical of the whole idea of big money supporting a candidate when he's somebody who benefited from big money from a so donor during the general -- during the presidential race. so what's going on here? >> well, karl rove has a history, so when he says conservative, you can look back at the candidates that he's gotten behind and understand what he's talking about with that. but i think it's a bad idea for any single person, freedomworks
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or karl rove or the republican party to dictate from the top do you know how this is going to work out. like i said before, we believe in competition. we believe in the democratization of politics. why wouldn't you let the candidates compete, state their positions, go through the process of proving whether or not they can cut it, and that candidate problems more viable. but karl rove got behind arlen specter soon afterwards, he became a democrat and the 60 there vote for obama care. he's been behind candidates who don't win. so i think it's a bad assumption to just assume that tea partiers have made mistakes. all politicians make mistakes. i would stand behind our record overall. >> john? >> yeah, i mean, matt, mistakes have been made. there's no question that's true. but the real question is what's the take away? from those five tea party senate seats whether it's sharron angle, christine o'donnell, todd akin, richard murdoch that could have made the difference,
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there's always going to be more competition, that's healthy but the hijacking in these close primaries that put forward candidates who can't win general elections, what's the take away for an organization like yours which has funded primaries in republican primaries putting forward some candidates who are just disasters in a general election. >> where are the dems in all this, sitting back and watching this fighting and just seeing where the chips fall, matt? >> sure they are. they're probably having a lot of fun watching the fight right now. but i think that this fight is very healthy. and yes, there were tea party failures but look at karl rove's failures. look at the republican establishment failures starting with mitt romney. look at montana, look at north dakota. look at connecticut, look at wisconsin. these were the candidates that could not lose. very clear pickups for republicans and they failed to do that. look at some of our guys. tim scott would not be the only black senator in the u.s. senate
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if it wasn't for his insurgent tea party challenge in south carolina as a challenger to a republican establishment guy. tedded cruz, marco rubio, we're repopulating the republican party. i think with young energetic, philosophically minded people that are the future of the gop. >> it's still not clear whether it's going to pay off. it would seem the gop would look at this infighting and see that they are handing some seats away, handing them off to the democrats who were just going to say you know what, as long as you have infighting, we're going to benefit. it would seem this strategy would backfire, john. >> i think that is the point. matt makes a fair point. rubio, cruz, two cases where the tea party supported candidate went on to win the general election. you can't pretend that christine o'donnell and sharron angle and todd akin and richard murdoch don't exist. they failed in part because of their social conservative philosophy. the question is, the republican party's going to have a real
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fight to reform. does it care about reaching out to the center and reaching about its face or is it all about playing to the base philosophically. the big irony here is that karl rove pioneered a lot of the red state, blue state strategies. but folks are starting to realize there is such a thing as too extreme. the terry party is struggling with whether that is a problem or not. >> this is the tip of the iceberg, we know. john, matt, thanks so much. good to see you gentlemen from washington. the vatican right now is in damage control mode. there are new allegations involving sex, money and gay priests. top vatican officials say it's all a bunch of lies. all a bunch of lies. we go live to rome after this. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i have to know the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. [ manager 2 ] it's like working in a giant sandbox. with all these huge toys. and with the fastest push-to-talk... i can keep track of them all.
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ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. 3:00 on the east coast, noon out west. welcome back to the newsroom. " a look at our top stories beginning with the vatican. it's hitting back at pedia reports on why benedict xvi became the first pope in history to resign. they say he made his decision on the same day he received a report on gay priests and financial corruption. ben we'd pan is in rome. is the vatican saying this report doesn't even exist? >> well, certainly what they're
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saying is that it's unverified, unverifiable and completely false news stories. the dossier itself, we do know three cardinals were assigned by pope ben diedict xvi to look in wrongdoing at the vatican after the so-called butler scandal after the pope's butler leaked hundreds of documents to the italian press. "la repubblica" and panorama, a weekly magazine are alleging this dossier, 300 pages, bound in red leather, contains not only reports or allegations of a network of gay priests within the vatican being blackmailed by a network of male prostitutes but also that there was serious financial wrongdoing within vatican financial institutions. now, according to these reports, the allegation is that people
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within the vatican violated the sixth command which is thou shall not steal and the seventh command," 000 shashl not commit adulte adultery. these reports are going around rome like wildfire. the vatican frantically trying to deny them. certainly people are paying a lot of attention to this topic just days before pope benedict steps down as pope. >> and what's the feeling how influential this might be on the conclave that will pick the new pope? >> well, vatican watchers are saying this could be critical, that these allegations, whether true or not, underscore the need for the next pope to really clean up house, to look throughout the institution of not only the vatican state but the catholic church itself and take a very hard look at how the
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vatican has dealt with pedophile scandals, homosexuality within the church, and allegations that go back decades of financial wrongdoing within the vatican bank. fredricka? >> meantime, ben, there was some movement or a proposal to try and change the parameters, the dates, the window in which a pope can be selected. is there any new development on that? >> well, what we're hearing from the vatican is that if there is any change to the timetable for the conclave, that meeting of 116 cardinals to elect the next pope, it will come after the pope steps down on the 28th. there had been talk that the vatican constitution might be modified to move it up, but at this point, i think the vatican's attention is now elsewhere. >> all right. ben wedeman, thanks so much in rome. one of the men who will help elect the next pope is cardinal
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roger mahoney. he is giving a legal deposition today in this country about alleged sex crimes by priests when he was archbishop of los angeles. cnn's miguel marquez is in l.a. he's been deposed before. why is it different this time? >> different because this is the first time he's been deposed since a release of massive release of documents related to his time in the late '80s as archbishop here and his handling of sex abuse cases. 12,000 pages of documents. hundreds of victims and over 120 priests involved in those documents. he was subsequently stripped of his public duties but not of being a card fal and not of his duty of being able to go to rome. the case that they're deposing him on today and we believe that is just about concluded now is on a priest nicholas aguilar rivera accused of molesting some 26 people. he fled to mexico, has been there ever since.
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but lawyers wanted to know what cardinal mahoney's role was in protecting him along the way. a member of the citizens, the guy who runs citizens united opposed to cardinal mahoney going to rome to cast his vote for the pope had this to say. >> if roger mahoney participates in the conclave, it will be a major distraction for the worldwide church that should otherwise be celebrating the future of catholicism. instead, we'll be reminded of the sins of our leaders and their general lack of accountability. >> now, i should say that mahoney has apologized for past transgressions and said it was a different time and things were handled differently. but when you read through these documents released by the archdioceses here, it is shocking the level of disregard for what was right and what was wrong, given what the archbishop was facing at that time.
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we expect that deposition should be wrapped up soon. i have been e-mailing and calling lawyers in there and hopefully we'll have a readout on that fairly shortly. >> would it be possible that ma hone nil would recuse himself from the papal vote? >> church watchers -- yeah, church watchers say it is possible. it is possible he could get there and the cardinals in the conclave could say thanks, but no thanks you're not invited. he may leave hours, minutes after this deposition is over. get on a plane, head to rome. they've all got to be there by the 27th. he's going to be there fairly soon. if not today, perhaps tomorrow. >> miguel thanks so much in los angeles. on to south africa where oscar pistorius is intending his first full day out on bail. as part of his bail conditions he is not allowed to go back to his house. he's staying with his uncle in pretoria instead. he's due back in court on june 4th. the pistorious family meantime says the twitter account of
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oscar's older brother has been hacked. they're now deleting all of their social media accountses. he's accused of murdering his girlfriend reeva stenkamp. >> she's become the first woman to get the pole position in tomorrow's daytona 500 putting her in the best starting spot. now danica patrick is focused on another record, being the first woman to win that race. >> as tony said, i can go out there and treat it like a video game and get after it and give it all i've got and not have to be concerned about, you know, being smart and taking care of the car. can i win? yeah, absolutely. >> danica also says her success is not just for her. she hopes it inspires other young women and girls to compete in sports. now let's talk about the snow that folks are dealing with across the middle of the country. take a look at this right there. eem in this building in wichita, kansas, thought it was an earthquake when sheets of snow started sliding off the roof. our i-reporter who shot the
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video described is the sound as a thunderous roar. then there's the northeast. it's bracing for its turn again. forecasters expect slushy snow or rain in the northeast and the deep south. also this massive weather system is rolling in toward the atlantic ocean, likely to bring a lot of rain. in new england they could see as much as 10 inches of snow. a mystery death at a los angeles hotel. what killed a young woman whose body was found inside the hotel's water tank? we'll have more on the investigation. and would you be willing to trade in your smartphone or for rather a pair of glasses? we' we'll show you what life would look like through google glass. and danica patrick has already made racing history. ahead, a look at the unconventional road the nascar driver has traveled to get to the poll position.
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transit fares! as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. no? oh, right. you're thinking of the 1.6 million daily customer care interactions xerox handles. or the 900 million health insurance claims we process. so, it's no surprise to you that companies depend on today's xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. with xerox, you're ready for real business. in washington state, six underground thanks at the sprawling hanford nuclear complex are leaking radio active waste. governor jayencely insists there is no immediate public health risk but says it is disturbing. hanford's last re-aker shut down in 1987. despite a massive clean-up effort, authorities say it is still the country's most contaminated nuclear site.
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on to los angeles now. a hotel with a notorious past is the site of another bizarre case. police are trying to find what happened after a missing woman's body was found in the cecil hotel's water tank. >> it tasted horrible. it had very funny sweetie disgusting taste. it's very, very strange taste. i can barely describe it. >> tourists from the uk never imagined the source of that indescribable taste and that it would trace back to 21-year-old elisa lam, the tourist from canada came to los angeles january 26th. she checked in at the cecil hotel. video from the hotel's elevators show her acting unusual as if she's hiding from someone. then lam disappeared january 31st. the boss never saw lam but new something was off. >> the pressure in the water was
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terrible. the shower was awful. >> the hotel's maintenance man responding to guest complaints went to check the four rooftop thanks that feed the building's main water supply. thanks that are unlocked, but the roof top is locked to guests. the maintenance man found her body inside one of the thanks at the bottom. >> it made me feel really sick yesterday until now knowing that we've been drinking this water for eight days. >> an makes you feel physically sick, literally physically sick but more than that, you feel psychologically, you think about it and it's not good. >> the l.a. county department of public health says the low tell was immediately placed on a flush only order but not ordered to shut down. a reasonable solution if the hotel provides bottled water. the hotel would not speak to cnn on or off camera but notified guests about a health and safety condition. guests tell us if they leave, they don't get a refund. if they stay, they must sign this legal agreement releasing
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the hotel of legal liability. it says if guests stay "you do so at your own risk and peril." this gruesome discovery is the latest chapter in a dark history for the cecil hotel. at least two serial killers have lived here, including night stalker richard ramirez found guilty of killing 13 people in the 1980s. he lived on the 14th floor of the hotel. >> he was living here during his killing spree, going out at night and killing people. >> so this is just the latest unusual chapter in a storied history. >> it is. i think it's the sort of thing that's going to be hard to forget because it's such a graphic and disturbing story. i hope we find out what happened. >> the l.a.pd is not calling this a homicide right now. investigators are still calling this a suspicious death. they have not named any suspects or made any arrests. young law, cnn los angeles. >> and forced spending cuts in washington, you've heard about them and read about it. but how will it impact you? we'll show you straight ahead. my mother made the best toffee in the world.
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in washington, politicians are playing another high stakes game of chicken. they are fighting over forced spending cuts that will go into effect march 1st unless congress and the white house make a budget deal. how will it impact you? here's chief business correspondent ali velshi. >> forced government spending cuts take effect march 1st. it's what washington has been calling the sequester. it's a stupid name for a stupid thing. >> these cuts are not smart, not fair. they will hurt our economy. they will add hundreds of thousands of americans to the unemployment rolls. this is not an abstraction. people will lose their jobs. >> you've heard the big numbers. $1.2 trillion in cuts over ten years. $85 billion this year. that's 13% cuts to defense, 9%
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to everything else. >> we're weeks away from the president's sequester and the president laid out no plan to eliminate the sequester and the harmful cuts that will come as a result. >> the forced budget cut were created during the 2011 debt ceiling debacle passed by congress and signed by the white house. a worst case scenario that would be so bad, it would force lawmakers to make a deal. now it's become a poison pill that the nation may have to swallow beginning march 1st. and if it happens it, 70,000 children kicked off head start programs putting more than 14,000 teaching and staff jobs at risk. fewer inspections for things like horse meat in your burgers. cuts to mental health programs mean almost 400,000 seriously mentally ill people will go untreated. homeland security drawdowns would result in longer wait times at airports and scaled back cyber security would mean
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more vulnerability to attacks from hackers in china and at home threatening our tra structure. furloughs and layoffs would affect more than 8 huchb,000 workers in the defense industry at the same time that north korea is testing a nuclear bomb. cuts at the irs would mean fewer tax return reviews and longer waits to get refunds. more than 100,000 people would be thrown out of emergency housing onto the streets. one way or another, everyone is it going to feel this. while washington continues to play the blame game. >> the bottom line is very simple. republicans have proposed devastating cuts. >> washington democrats have gotten used to republicans bailing them out of their own lack of responsibility. >> ali velshi, cnn, new york. all right. ali, thank you very much on that one. let's go to the racetrack. danica patrick is the first woman to win the pole position in nascar's biggest race. her life, her love and her
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racing have all been in the spotlight long before this week. we'll look at what makes her tick straight ahead. [ engine revving ] ♪ [ male announcer ] every car we build must make adrenaline pump and pulses quicken. ♪ to help you not just to stay alive... but feel alive. the new c-class is no exception. it's a mercedes-benz through and through. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. so i used my citi thankyou card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? and with all the points i've been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot even on a holiday weekend. ♪ things are definitely looking up. [ male announcer ] with no blackout dates,
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you can use your citi thankyou points to travel whenever you want. visit citi.com/thankyoucards to apply. picasso painted one of his master works at 56. doris taerbaum finished her first marathon at 50. not everyone peaks in their twenties. throughout their lives. passion keeps them realizing possibilities. an ally for real possibilities. aarp. find tools and support at aarp.org/possibilities.
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but at xerox we've embraced a new role. working behind the scenes to provide companies with services... like helping hr departments manage benefits and pensions for over 11 million employees. reducing document costs by up to 30%... and processing $421 billion dollars in accounts payables each year. helping thousands of companies simplify how work gets done. how's that for an encore? with xerox, you're ready for real business. welcome back to the "newsroom." i'm fredricka whitfield. a lot straight ahead in the next hour or so starting with the vatican. firing back at italian media reports on why pope benedict decided to resign. a newspaper and a weekly
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magazine say it happened the same day the pope received a bombshell. a 300-page vatican report about gay priests and financial corruption. a spokesman says it's just gossip designed to influence the vote for a new pope. a u.s. cardinal who will be part of that vote potentially has been tied up in a legal deposition in the states today. cardinal roger mahoney answered questions about pedophile priests in the los angeles dioceses during the time he was archbishop. documents suggest he knew about the sex abuse but went out of his way to protect the priests. in south africa, oscar pistorius is spending his first full day out on bail. but as part of his bail conditions, he is not allowed to go back to his own house. so he's staying with his uncle in pretoria. he is due back in in court june 4th. he is accused of murdering his girlfriend reval steenkamp. here's what's trending online right now. former utah governor john
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huntsman is the latest politician to endorse gay marriage. the former republican presidential candidate says he used to support only civil unions but he now says his opinion has changed. and he's urging fellow republicans to endorse gay marriage, as well. and talk about good karma. well-wishers from around the world are opening their wallets to a homeless man in kansas city, missouri. he returned a diamond engagement ring to its rightful owner after she accidentally dropped it in his donation cup. so far, people have raised almost $94,000 for billy ray harris. and first lady michelle obama, i bet you never knew she had moves like this. she was grooving with tv host jimmy fallon who got dressed up like a mom for what they call the evolution of mom dancing. okay. well, she has done it once and now danica patrick is hoping to make nascar history again.
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last week, she became the first woman to qualify for the front spot at daytona 500 and tomorrow, she's hoping to become the first woman to win the race. joe carter has more on patrick and her quest to make history. >> i think that there's an opinion that i'm probably kind of hard or tough or tool serious maybe. but i can tell you i'm probably like the opposite of that at home. number one, i'm very girly. i like to go shopping. i like to go get pedicures. i like to wear high heels and dresses. i'm definitely a lot softer than i am at the track where i'm doing my job. >> reporter: love as it turns out has no caution flag. in november, she announced the end of her seven-year marriage but just weeks ago it was revealed she had a new love, fellow rookie driver ricky stenhouse junior and her happiness couldn't be more apparent. >> we're enjoying it, and i think we both kind of laugh a lot when we get asked about each
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other. so i think that's a good thing. >> i'm not going to crash somebody because they crashed her or you know, i mean, i'm going to go out and drive hard every week. >> reporter: being in the spotlight is nothing new for danica. she's garnered is worldwide fame for her provocative photo shoots and record rd 12 super bowl commercial appearances. >> how hot is too hot? >> danica is among nascar's biggest stars and top earners. but over the years, she's been a lightning rod for critics who point to her failure so far to win a race or accuse her of focusing more on self-promotion. but for racing, she brings a tremendous amount of exposure and popularity to a sport that could use an attendance and tv ratings boost. >> it's really created significant added interest from a fan base standpoint. she's got this large and engaged fan base. some who are nascar fans before and some who were not. for us to have her bring that fan base to us and then be able
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to cultivate it and grow it is important for us. >> patrick struggled in the spotlight last year. her first racing with nascar after seven seasons with indy car. just two lapse into her debut at the daytona 500, she crashed and finished 38th. now after making history as the first woman to win pole position for this year's race, it's clear that her years of working to make it to the front row are paying off on the biggest stage. >> when you have a clear mind and you're happy in your personal life, everything, everything shows. you know? you can do your job well. >> i have a lot to learn, too. i understand that. i mean, i've got jeff gordon starting next to me and i've got, oh, my god, a herd of them behind me. hopefully at the end we're rolling and we have a chance. >> you know, win or lose come sunday, we have certainly seen the impact danica patrick has on nascar and its fan base. all week we've seen a herd of little girls following her around, going up to her garage window, signing her well wishes.
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waiting for any chance to get a glimpse of her, waiting for a chance to meet her, hoping for an autograph. her pit crew sheaf saying they have handed out more lug nuts with the number 10 scribbled on them than he's ever handed out in his entire career. she's certainly opening nascar to a whole new fan base. >> meantime, is there some science behind the chances of her winning? >> well, you know, it's going to be tough for her to win. i don't want to take away from what she did by winning the pole. it's been 13 years since a driver has been able to win both the pole and the daytona 500. nascar's most elite series she raced last year. her best finish was 17th. but there was a rookie that won this race twos years ago in trevor bane. so danica patrick the new star with everybody watching has a chance albeit not the best chance but she certainly has a chance. >> you can't help but say go girl. go danica. all right. thanks so much, joe. keep us posted on that one.
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speaking of driving, how about those gas prices? you probably noticed the price of gas has gone way up. i'll tell you in a minute why some are seeing it as a threat to the economic recovery. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. ♪ make it worth watching. ♪ the new 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit.
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the oscar pistorius murder case is riveting people around the world. he claims he killed his girlfriend by mistake thinking she was an intruder. the prosecution says it was premeditated murder. which is it? tom for man takes a look. >> throughout both sides have been insisting their version of events is the correct one. oscar pistorius says it all began in the bedroom where in the early hours of valentine's day and the darkness he and his girlfriend were asleep and he got up to go out to the balcony to bring in a fan and go to the
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window. he says his girlfriend got up at the same time and went to the bathroom. so when he came back in from the balcony, he insists he was under the impression she was still in the bed. let's fly inside and show you his point of view. he says he goes into this darkened room. he doesn't have his prosthetic legs on. the room is very dark. he can't see much but he thinks she must be there. then he hears a noise in this hallway. there have been threats against his life. he gets his pistol from under the bed and goes down the hall to confront the intruder. he thinks that must be the intruder. starts yelling for his girlfriend protect herself. and in a panic, fires through the door. only when he goes back into his bedroom to put on his prosthetic legs and he turns the lights on does he realize his girlfriend's not there. then it occurs to him that that might have been her inside the toilet room. he goes back and bash the door
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down and starts calling for help. that is his version of what happened. but the prosecutors tell a very different story. they say there was no darkness. the lights were on the whole time. there was no confusion. there was a huge fight going on. they say this couple had been arguing for quite some time so loud neighbors hundreds of yards away could hear it. and yes she went into the bathroom but went there to get away from him. they say oscar pistorius indeed got his pilates and went down that hallway in the full light with full knowledge of what he was doing, that he was pursuing her to that door and when he found it locked in a rage, he tried to bash it down and shot through it with the intent of killing her. two very different stories. and the details will determine whether or not he spends a lot of time in jail. >> thanks so much, tom foreman for that. the trial is not expected to start till the end of the year. britain is going to need a stiff upper lip to swallow a bitter economic pill. moody's, the big credit rating
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agency just downgraded the country's rating. to make things worse, the country used to have the highly prized aaa rating. moody's said it was worried about the country's debt than its balance sheet won't be improving anytime soon. it means britain will pay a higher interest rate anytime it needs to borrow money. back here in the u.s., the focus is still on the bumpy economic recovery here, and now the latest concern is the skyrocketing price of gasoline. felicia taylor explains. >> we're in the middle of one of the most dramatic run-ups in gas prices in the last decade. the average price of a gallon of regular ended the week 14 cents higher than it was the previous friday. and almost 50 cents higher than it was one month ago. but higher gas prices are just one reason consumers are starting to get seriously squeezed. the end of the payroll tax holiday has taken a bite out of every american's paycheck since the beginning of the year and the delay in tax refund checks
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going out a result of congress' delay to decide on the fiscal cliff forced tough choices. this week, we found out just where people are cutting back. a new survey from national retail federation found 24% of shoppers putting off big ticket purchases. the same number of people said they're foregoing treats like an afternoon latte and almost half plan to pocket tax refunds rather than spend them. that has retailers worried. walmart reported results for the last three months of 2012. holiday sales were pretty good. but the world's largest retailer warned february sales started slower than planned and it would continue to monitor economic conditions that impact sales. prices won't stay high forever. aaa expects gas prices to peak in early spring and prices shouldn't go any higher than it did last year. and the u.s. department of agriculture is predicting a record high corn crop this summer, which would put downward
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pressure on meat, poultry and dairy prices and help ease pain at the store by the end of the year. fredricka? >> thanks so much. get ready to ditch your smartphone. google says it is working on a pair of cool new glasses that will do the same job. i'll show you how they work.
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break through scientists are
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being honored with awards. and big cash prizes. the break through prize foundation headed up by facebook's mark zuckerberg and google's ceo handed out the group as a first awards for research in curing deadly diseases. each of the 11 winners took home $3 million. that's twice as much as nobel prize winners get. zuckerberg says the money is well deserved. . >> the big thing here is that you know, science and technology are very closely related. and when you're building these information technology companies, the market rewards you and you can make a lot of money but a lot of folks doing such extraordinary work in science don't have the same opportunity, and because of that, i think it would be a shame if a lot of folks are growing up trying to figure out what they want to do don't choose to go into such critical work because of that. google has another competition going. the company is looking for people to test out a new set of
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glasses. right there called the google glass. but it's not just any pair of glasses. they're super hi-tech glasses that will do a lot of the same things a smartphone can do. laurie segal is cnn money's tech reporter. okay, this is very interesting. have you had a chance to see them up close and personnel. >> -- personal? >> i'm trying. >> i think you can make it happen. they've got these glasses, the google glass, but there's a contest and you can be a tester but you have 0 pay, right? it's a competition and then you have to pay to actually get the glasses. so explain. >> sure. so up up -- they put these out there about a year ago and said they were doing this. this is the first time they're kind of putting them saying we want to see what people do with them. for now, everybody that's been testing them, they've been google developers. now they're saying tweet us, go on google plus, say #if i had glass and say what you would do. #if i had glass i would be using
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them right here on air right now. there's my application. it's the thing where now they're ready to see how people use them. >> and then how can you use them? what is it that it does? >> well, they released a new video showing some of the things you're going to be able to do. you can take video just by saying i want to take video. it recognizes your voice. people are taking video of their children, they're taking pictures. you can check and see if your flight's dlads. you can check the weather. all things that you could do with your smartphone now you're going to be able to do with your glasses. you can look at it as an extension of the smartphone. >> oh, my gosh. a tiny little screen within the screen where you can read information. i mean, the point of view we're seeing mostly in this video is kind of like a viewer taking a photograph or video. then i guess in that little upper right-hand corner, that's the information that you'd have to read? boy, this is a real test on your vision. >> sure. think about directions. if you're getting lost and want to look down at your smartphone,
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when you're driving that can be dangerous. now you can say i need directions and it will show it to you. this is only the beginning. i have a feeling we're going to be walking down the street and see people with these glasses very, very soon. >> oh, my gosh. ultimately this is something you would buy in the store? >> sure, yeah. and there are all these rumors google might open up a store so we can see a lot of things happening right now, especially this extension of fashion and technology. so they're rumored to be available 2014. there were some rumors maybe by the end of 2013. this isn't just saying this is crazy technology. this is them saying we're ready to put them out there and get people to research them. i don't think they're going to be cheap though. >> no, probably not. especially if you've got to pay $1500 just to test them out. now, google isn't the only one who's come up with an idea on real smartphone accessories of this caliber. what else is in the pipeline? >> there's rumors that apple is working on a smart watch. we covered a watch that allows
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you, it's called -- it allows you to get text messages. look at your wrist and get text messages and see who's calling. we're seeing this extension of not just your smartphone where you can do things. now it's becoming smart clothing. we spoke last week about a chip embedded in clothing that helps you with gps, if you lose your gloves, you can press an app on your phone. the innovation has been there for a while and now extending very much past your smartphone. >> so fascinating. laurie segal, thanks so much. i can't wait for you to be the first one to get your hands on that google glass. >> i'm hoping >> i think you'd look good in it. thanks, lore are i. for more des and reviews, go to cnn.com/tech and look for the gaming and gadgets tab. every year, more than 400,000 american teens qualified to go to college don't. many simply don't note how to get in or aren't even aware that going beyond high school is an
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option for them. that's where this week's cnn hero comes in. meet michael carter. >> the state took me and my siblings away from my mom when i was 14. now we live with our grandparents. i don't want to be faced with the limits that my mom faced. that's why i want to go to college. my grandparents only went to grade school. there was nobody at home that could help me figure out how i could reach my dream. >> applying to college can be very bewildering. there's over 400,000 low income students every year who graduate qualified to go to a four-year college and they just don't go. my name is michael carter. i help qualified underserved students apply to, pay for, and stay in college.
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we bring the college mentors to high schools to help students through the entire process. >> how many more apps do you have to do? >> none. i did them all. >> that's pretty good. >> it's completely free. students pick their mentor and they meet weekly until they're accepted into college. >> i've never really thought of myself as the greatest student. like college was not on my mind. >> all the anatomy. >> now i'm a sophomore at the university. my tuition is covered and i'm mentoring a high school student. i'm proof that strive for college, would. >> strive, strive. everybody. >> together, we are going to solve this problem. >> over a career, having a college degree can mean earning nearly $1 million more than if you only have a high school degree. so to get more details on michael's program or if you know someone making a big difference
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in the lives of others, tell us about them. go to cnnheroes.com and nominate a cnn hero. it is almost oscar time. the countdown is on. this year, the show will have a new host and a new look. this is so sick! i can't believe your mom let you take her car out. this is awesome! whoooo! you're crazy. go faster! go faster! go faster! go faster! no! stop...stop... (mom) i raised my son to be careful... hi, sweetie. hi, mom. (mom) but just to be safe... i got a subaru. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru.
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♪ "argo", just one example of art imitating life at the oscars. and tomorrow's awards show probably won't look anything like the one last year. aj hammer is on the red carpet with his shades on. >> well, fred, this year's oscar show promises to have a decided ly new feel to it. we have brand-new producers this year who guarantee big performances throughout the night. a new host this year, seth mcfarland hosting for the very first time, eager and ready to out his stamp on the show. a once in a lifetime performances. but for the front runners this
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year, the familiarity of art imitating life may be the key to oscar gold. the oscars. always about stars and glamour. but experts like deadline.com's pete hammond say the academy of motion picture arts and sciences pays close attention to history. >> with historical movies, you get the big sets, you get the costumes. you get the so-called truth factor and that's always appealing to the academy. >> best picture nominees and oscar favorites, "lincoln," "argo" and "django unchained". hammond says this year's oscar nominees are being influenced not by history class but politics is also playing a part. >> the oscars have always been accused of being political. but this year it's literally political and it's with d.c. really getting involved in hollywood's business here. >> you really believe this story? osama bin laden. >> yeah.
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>> "zero dark thirty" started it all with, you know, john mccain and dianne feinstein, and the acting head of the cia at the time, basically attacking the movie for playing with the facts. >> things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other. >> "lincoln" has really been using washington, d.c. they had a special screening for barack obama, and at the white house. they came back and they had a big screening for the u.s. senate. that was sort of unprecedented. >> and hammond says his pick for best picture is going to benefit from its historical setting, and its political momentum among oscar voters. >> you have to go with "argo." i can't think of a movie that's won the golden globe, critics choice, s.a.g. and bafta and gone on to lose for best picture. >> with it not being nominated for best director, that category is wide open. >> you know, it's a toss-up, i think, really between steven
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spielburg for "lincoln." >> stepped on a world stage now. >> but i can really see it going to "life of pi." >> the consensus is the best actress category comes down to jennifer lawrence and jessica chastain. but if they split the vote, there could be a surprise in this category from the star of the french film "amore." >> emmanuel reeva could sneak in for a win. >> although the best actor category seems like a lock. >> daniel day-lewis, playing abraham lincoln. they pull out a reminder of him with a $5 bill. >> we'll see who gets to become part of oscars history sunday night. and if daniel day-lewis does walk away with the oscar for "lincoln" as so many expect he will, it will be the first time ever an actor has won three times in that category, cementing his place in history. fred.
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>> all right. very exciting. thanks, aj. you can catch cnn's oscar coverage tomorrow night. the road to gold begins at 6:00 eastern time. the vatican in damage control mode right now. there are new allegations involving sex, money and gay priests. top vatican officials say it's all a bunch of lies. more on that after this.
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hello again, everyone. 4:00 on the east coast. 1:00 out west. for those of you just joining us, welcome to the cnn "newsroom," i'm fredricka whitfield. here are the top stories. the vatican is hitting back at italian media reports on why benedict xvi became the first pope in centuries to resign. a newspaper and a weekly magazine say the pope made his decision on the same day he received a 300-page report on gay priests and financial corruption. a vatican spokesman says it's just gossip designed to influence the vote for a new pope. i talked to cnn senior vatican analyst john allen about the vatican's response. >> well, fredricka, at least we can confirm the pr level of things. what this does is gives the story legs. when this story first broke, charges of this shadowy gay lobby inside the vatican, openly
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gay, first blush, a lot of people had, chalk this up to typical italian mellow drama and take with a grain of salt. but among other things in the media may be in on an effort to influence the election of a new pope. what the vatican has done is insure this story is going to be with us for a while. >> and will it influence the selection of the pope? >> well, i think it will. not necessarily the notion that there is some kind of secret gay conspiracy inside the vatican. but i think what this has done is that it has cemented a conviction among many cardinals and some inside the vatican itself. it displaces long overdue for a serious housecleaning. and so i think what it will do is put many cardinals in a place where they'll be looking for a pope who can take the reins of governance in his own hands and push through a serious reform, which as i say, many should have been done a long time ago. >> so ultimately, then, does this leave a mark on the legacy
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of benedict xvi? >> well, look, fredricka, i think the first draft of history about benedict already was that he was a great teaching pope, but a mixed bag as a governor. we have seen a series of kind of internal meltdowns and breakdowns and crises over the last eight years, including the vatican's reaction to the child sex abuse scandals, the spectacular vatican mess last year. this latest eruption doesn't fundamentally change the picture, but it does mean in some ways that the papacy is ending on a somewhat sour note. >> vatican analyst john allen. so one of the men who will help elect the next pope, potentially, is cardinal roger mahoney. he has been given a legal deposition today about alleged sex crimes by priests when he was archbishop of los angeles. cnn's miguel marquez is in l.a. so mahoney has been deposed before but this time it's different. explain why.
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>> reporter: the big reason why is there was a release of about 12,000 documents by the archdiocese released under court order, andit the first time he's been deposed since the release of those documents. those documents involving hundreds of victims of sexual abuse or at least claims of victim hood of sexual abuse, and over 100 priests, as well. he -- that deposition may be over at this point. i have tried to get ahold of every party that is in that room, and no one is saying anything, which leads me to believe that perhaps it has gone longer, perhaps there was an attempt at a last-minute settlement to avoid the deposition. but it's not very clear what's going on right now. the case that he was being deposed on or is being deposed on is -- involves a priest, nicholas rivera, who is charged or is said to have molested some 26 people. the lawyers may talk to him about 25 other clergy members. all of this against the backdrop of roger mahoney flying to rome
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to take part in the conclave and cast his vote for the next pope. the very conservative religious group, catholic group, catholic league, you would think they would come out on roger mahoney's side, say he can do whatever he wants, he is a sitting cardinal, after all. not exactly. >> the fact that it's still in the news, because mahoney is under the gun because of what happened in the 1980s does bring up the question, which is legitimate. should he go over to rome and join the conclave? i know he may have a right to. i don't think it's a wise decision for him to do so. >> and at the moment, the only thing we know is that roger mahoney has tweeted about 20 hours ago now, he would be leaving for rome in a few short hours. his spokesman saying that it is law that he go to rome and cast his vote. it is still an open question, though, whether he will actually go there, whether he will cast this vote with this latest scandal at the vatican.
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he may not be welcome at all, fredricka. >> so miguel, would other cardinals weigh in and say we don't think he should be able to vote? how would that decision come about? or would he have to just recuse himself? >> it is possible. one of two ways. he could recuse himself, although his spokesperson says under law, he has to go. or once he gets there, he could be given sort of the cold shoulder in that conclave and be asked to stand down, and not cast a vote. >> all right. miguel marquez. thanks so much from los angeles. keep us posted. mean time, police in las vegas say they are now looking for an suv involved in that deadly shooting and crash earlier in the week. a black suv opened fire on a maserati, right on the vegas strip. the maserati crashed into the taxi -- into a taxi, rather, which burst into flames, killing the cab driver and a passenger. an autopsy is under way on the
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maserati's driver. he has been identified, however, as aspiring rapper kenneth cherry. on to los angeles again now. the coroner there is ordering a toxicology report for canadian tourist whose body was found in a hotel water tank. 21-year-old elisa lamb was reported missing back in january. her body was found in the water tank earlier this week. but so far, no suspects, no arrests. nick valencia is in the "newsroom" with the very latest. >> reporter: fred, it may seem unsuspecting from the outside, but the cecil hotel has a history of horrific incidents. in a city of the famous and those who would be famous, the cecil hotel is best known for its infamy. founded in the 1920s, the hotel sits in downtown los angeles, just a stone's throw from skid row. the neighborhood around the cecil has changed over the decades. but despite the city's best efforts to jent re-fi it, it
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remains a building of the past. >> thank you for calling the cecil hotel, the best affordable hotel in downtown las vegas. >> reporter: calling itself the choice of hotels, the cecil attracts mostly low-income residents. in the '50s and '60s, it was known as a place where those at the end of their rope would end their life. in 1985, it was the choice hideout for serial killer richard ramirez ticket convicted of killing 13 people in las vegas. he reported lived at the hotel for months. an austrian killer also found comfort at the cecil. jack underweaker may have killed victims there. black dalia hung out in the hotel before her brutal murder in 1947. and now this. the decomposing body of canadian tourist found in one of the hotel's water tanks. guests here were noticeably upset. >> wouldn't you be? if there was a dead body in the water you were using and
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drinking? >> reporter: canadian tourist elisa lamb chose the hotel despite its seedy past. her body may have been there for weeks. >> the pressure in the water was terrible. the shower was awful. the water -- when you turned the tap on, the water was coming black first. >> reporter: the 21-year-old's death, just the latest mystery for a hotel with a haunted past. some of the hotel residents tell cnn that hotel management did not alert them that lisa lamb's body was in the water tank. cnn's phone calls to the hotel have gone unanswered. as far as the investigation is concerned, an autopsy was conducted on the 21-year-old's body earlier this week. the results of that prove to be inconclusi inconclusive. officials will wait weeks on the results of toxicology reports. >> nick valencia, thank you so much. not even microsoft is safe from hackers. it says hackers infected a small number of its computers with malicious software. the company is investigating and says there is no evidence
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customer data was sole en. hackers also recently attacked apple and facebook. if your computer at work has been hacked, the hackers just might be in china? the inside story coming up. plus, why these chinese officials are chasing our news crew. great, everybody made it. we all work remotely so this is a big deal, our first full team gathering! i wanted to call on a few people. ashley, ashley marshall... here. since we're often all on the move, ashley suggested we use fedex office to hold packages for us. great job. [ applause ] thank you. and on a protocol note, i'd like to talk to tim hill about his tendency to use all caps in emails. [ shouting ] oh i'm sorry guys. ah sometimes the caps lock gets stuck on my keyboard. hey do you wanna get a drink later? [ male announcer ] hold packages at any fedex office location. constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation.
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thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. it's not what you think. it's a phoenix with 4 wheels. it's a hawk with night vision goggles. it's marching to the beat of a different drum. and where beauty meets brains. it's big ideas with smaller footprints. and knowing there's always more in the world to see. it's the all-new lincoln mkz. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote.
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which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. with xerox, you're ready for real business. the chinese military is suspected of thousands of computer hacks into american businesses and government agencies. chinese officials apparently didn't like cnn's reporting on the hacking, as you can see right here, when our crew showed up at a building in shanghai, they were chased down by chinese military. so the report, which reveals allegations of the hacking, all but confirms what many have suspected. the chinese are gathering information that could disrupt our power plants, chemical factories and transportation system. even the president spoke about it in his state of the union speech. >> we know hackers steal people's identities, and infiltrate private e-mails. we know foreign countries and
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companies swipe our corporate secrets. now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions. our air traffic control systems. >> veteran journalist james fall lows is national correspondent with "the atlantic" magazine and has covered china extensively. great to see you. >> thank you. >> how seriously should this be taken? is it beyond allegations the chinese military may be involved in hacking some american businesses and government agencies? >> for decades -- for at least a decade, there has been suspicion of hacking attempts coming from china, not only china, from russia, from other part of the world, too. i think this latest report last week was significant in having more concrete evidence never before of specifically chinese military involvement here. that building in shanghai which i've seen too is where the "new york times" was reporting on this mandian report, so there is
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harder evidence than before. however, i think the important threat for people to bear in mind is less the sort of nightmare scenario of disabling the power grid than the ongoing theft of commercial secrets. i think that's really what americans are most concerned about, what the president was alluding to. >> so you mentioned a couple times there evidence. what kind of evidence? >> there was a team that was able to trace all the -- was able to sort of backtrack the source of a lot of assaults it had found on u.s. e-mail accounts, corporate accounts and government accounts, and it found they all were i.p. addresses within one very small area of shanghai that also happened to be the home of a gigantic military encampment. so they said either this is some militarily planned operation -- excuse me, or else the military in china has no idea what's going on right outside its doors. so this was clearer evidence that we've seen over the years of specifically people's liberation army involvement. >> okay. and trade secrets. like what? >> well, they range. for example, lockheed martin has
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said a lot of their aerospace plans they feel have been under assault. general electric. everything from their jet engines to some of their cheen power technologies. coca-cola was involved in a huge merger attempt a couple years ago in china and it felt as if that fell through because suddenly its secrets were leaking out. general motors and ford also have had this complaint. so i think that it is attention-getting from the president and others to talk about this cyber assault that would liken some science fiction movie, turn off our electric grid. the real threat is all this intellectual property that is seeping out day by day. >> and does this, like, create a real conundrum for some of these american companies who don't want to complain or, you know, reveal they suspect something like this is happening, because at the same time, china is giving them big business. they're a large consumer of, you know, their wares. >> exactly. and i think this is a dilemma that american companies have been dealing with and other companies for a long time. you saw google take a significant step about three
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years ago when they came public and said we are under assault by the chinese government, we're going to change our policies within china, and they showed both the effect it could have to have this die kind of whistle blowing by a prominent company but also the price they paid. they really had huge commercial setbacks in china because of that. but i think this latest report, it may indicate that a private firms in the u.s. and around the world thinking there is more in it for them to complain than just to kind of endure this quietly. >> what do you think is next here? >> i think the next is probably the u.s. government will stop the public criticism, because that often backfires in dealings with the chinese government, and make this one more item of negotiations for the ongoing talks. >> and there was a lot of that on the campaign trail. remember? >> there certainly was. and i think the chinese at least are sophisticated enough to know, this is part of the american election cycle, as the counterpart is in chinese politics, too. >> all right. james foulers, thanks so much of "the atlantic" magazine. appreciate it. all right.
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iran's leaders have been giving the u.s. headaches, but iran's wrestlers have been giving the u.s. headlocks. they resolve their differences on the mat. >> i'm dr. sanjay gupta. and this week on "the next list," -- >> i like to work with electronics in fashion, and that's kind of what people stereo typically will think of as adding technology to a garment. this is a scarf i've created. >> they wero -- >> thermo chromatic. it changes color with temperature. so this one, when you wear the scarf in cold temperatures, snowflakes appear. and the snowflakes -- >> what? >> grow larger as the temperature gets colder. so i just put an ice pack underneath. when the temperature drops below 65 degrees, a small snowflake will appear on the scarf. but at 32 degrees, it's colder and the snowflake on the scarf
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will grow larger. >> oh, my gosh! how do you do that? >> with the thermo chromatic. >> it's next sunday on "the next list." ♪ let's face it. everyone has their own way of doing things. at university of phoenix we know learning is no different. so we offer personalized tools and support, that let our students tackle the challenge of going back to school, like they do anything else... their way. i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters...
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hollywood's biggest night is tomorrow, and the movie "argo" is one of the front runners for oscar gold. it's about a daring rescue during the iranian hostage crisis. president carter was in charge at the time. >> you've seen "argo" i take it. >> i have. >> how accurate is it from your memory? >> let me say first of all it's a great drama and i hope it gets academy award for best film because i think it deserves it.
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the only thing i would say was that 90% of the contributions to the ideas and consummation of the plan was canadian. and the movie gives almost full credit to the american cia. and with that exception, the movie is very good. >> and we're all anxious to see who wins at the oscars tomorrow night. but even the losers don't go away empty-handed. nominees who don't get an oscar go home with a goody bag worth more than $45,000. in this year's swag bag includes trips to australia, mexico, hawaii. you see the list right there. plus circus lessons for the nominees' kids. a bottle of tequila, and yeah, you read that right. condoms. don't get it. ack cue puncture and aromatherapy sessions. get that. and free face injections to help keep a youthful glow. a l.a. marketing firm has been providing loser gift bags for more than a decade. there's a whole lot of other
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stuff too. that's just a little bit of the list. you can catch cnn's oscar coverage tomorrow night. our red carpet special, the road to gold, begins at 6:00 eastern time. all right. now let's talk about another kind of competition. the united states is wrestling with iran, literally wrestling. the u.s. wrestling team went toe-to-toe with the team from iran this week, and our reza sayah was there. >> reporter: at tehran's arena, under the gaze of iran's supreme leader, the showdown. fans were waiting for. iran taking on the u.s. two countries whose governments are bitter rivals, locking horns in the wrestling world cup. the atmosphere is electric here. but here's what's remarkable. despite the fierce competition on the mat, there's no sign of bad blood between iranians and americans. and here's how you know. right after their own wrestlers,
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these iranian fans are cheering now for this man, american gold medal winner jordan burroughs. >> it was pretty cool. every time i step out there, once they see me they're excited to see me. cheering my name, screaming my name and giving me praise, it's pretty cool. >> reporter: true to form, burroughs dominates his match, but in the end, final score, iran 6, u.s. 1. after each match, a show of mutual respect. something washington and tehran have rarely shown, since 1980, when they broke off diplomatic ties. what you're looking at is iranian fans now chasing after jordan burroughs like he's a rock star and the entire usa team as they get on the bus. all these guys just love jordan burroughs. they love the fact that the american team is here. and this is the power of sports. look at this. this is -- >> i love you!
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>> reporter: there is little love in the u.s. for the iranian government. in a gallup poll last year, one in three americans said iran is enemy number one. iran is still viewed by a lot of americans as a dangerous place. >> sure. >> reporter: does that message match with what you see here and all the love you guys get? >> no. i tell you, athletes, right? you go lactic acid. we work, we train together. it enables us to engage with each other. >> reporter: this was team usa's tenth visit to iran. each visit stirs speculation that sport might help build bridges between the two countries. >> when we got here, they had their arms wide open to our wrestling program, and to americans, because they realize that it's a better world with us together. >> well, if wrestlers can get together, anyone can get together. >> reporter: so far, the exception to that wrestler's rule has been washington and tehran. during our visit, the iranian
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government's deep-seated suspicion for the international media was evident. a few hours into our shoot, security officials confiscated our videotape and erased interviews with both u.s. and iranian wrestlers, saying we were not allowed to ask questions about politics. we ended up doing the interviews over again. it was a reminder that u.s.-iran relations remain very complicated. reza sayah, cnn, at the ran. >> we'll have much more from the "newsroom" after this. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers.
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this is cnn breaking news. >> all right, in the middle of big anticipation at daytona where the big daytona 500 takes place tomorrow, today is the nationwide race. we understand there's been some firing explosion at the track today. cnn employee john newsome is there, and also helped capture these images. john, you're with us on the line right now. what's your understanding about what happened